Political Advocacy Audiobooks | Politics

Tell the Truth & Shame the Devil: The Life, Legacy, and Love of My Son Michael Brown

This revelatory memoir by the mother of Michael Brown, the African American teenager killed by the police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, sheds light on one of the landmark events in recent history. When Michael Orlandus Darrion Brown was born, he was adored and doted on by his aunts, uncles, grandparents, his father, and most of all by his sixteen-year-old mother, who nicknamed him Mike Mike. McSpadden never imagined that her son's name would inspire the resounding chants of protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, and ignite the global conversation about the disparities in the American policing system. Tell the Truth & Shame the Devil is a riveting family memoir about the journey of a young woman triumphing over insurmountable obstacles and learning to become a good mother. With brutal honesty, McSpadden brings us inside her experiences being raised by a hardworking, single mother; her pregnancy at age fifteen and the painful subsequent decision to drop out of school to support her son; how she survived domestic abuse; and her unwavering commitment to raising four strong and healthy children, even if it meant doing so on her own. McSpadden writes passionately about the hours, days, and months after her son was shot to death by Officer Darren Wilson, recounting her time on the ground with peaceful protestors, how she was treated by police and city officials, and how she felt in the gut-wrenching moment when the grand jury announced that it would not indict the man who had killed her son. After the system failed to deliver justice for Michael Brown, McSpadden and thousands of others across America took it upon themselves to carry on his legacy in the fight against injustice and racism. Tell the Truth & Shame the Devil is a portrait of our time, an urgent call to action, and a moving testament to the undying bond between mothers and sons. "The death of Michael Brown could have been just one more incident raising questions about the public and policing. Instead, a community came together and ignited a firestorm of national protests...Grieving mother Lezley McSpadden launched head first into a new life of activism. This book gives voice to her journey and allows us all to see what one mother can do to find answers."-Soledad O'Brien, Peabody Award-winning television journalist

Lezley McSpadden (Author), Lisa Renee Pitts, Lisa Reneé Pitts (Narrator)

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From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation

The eruption of mass protests in the wake of the police murders of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York City have challenged the impunity with which officers of the law carry out violence against black people and punctured the illusion of a postracial America. The Black Lives Matter movement has awakened a new generation of activists. In this stirring and insightful analysis, activist and scholar Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor surveys the historical and contemporary ravages of racism and persistence of structural inequality such as mass incarceration and black unemployment. In this context, she argues that this new struggle against police violence holds the potential to reignite a broader push for black liberation.

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (Author), Mia Ellis (Narrator)

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Democracy Now!: Twenty Years Covering the Movements Changing America

A celebration of the acclaimed television and radio news program Democracy Now! and the extraordinary movements and heroes who have moved our democracy forward. In 1996 Amy Goodman began hosting a show on Pacifica Radio called Democracy Now! to focus on the issues and movements that are too often ignored by the corporate media. Today Democracy Now! is the largest public media collaboration in the US, broadcasting on over 1,400 public television and radio stations around the world, with millions accessing it online at DemocracyNow.org. Now Amy, along with her journalist brother, David, and co-author Denis Moynihan, share stories of the heroes-the whistleblowers, the organizers, the protesters-who have brought about remarkable change. This important book looks back over the past two decades of Democracy Now! and the powerful movements and charismatic leaders who are re-shaping our world. Goodman takes the reader along as she goes to where the silence is, bringing out voices from the streets of Ferguson to Staten Island, Wall Street, South Carolina to East Timor-and other places where people are rising up to demand justice. Democracy Now! is the modern day underground railroad of information, bringing stories from the grassroots to a global audience.

Amy Goodman, David Goodman (Author), Amy Goodman (Narrator)

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The Black Door

Intelligence can do a prime minister's dirty work. For more than a century, secret wars have been waged directly from Number 10. They have staved off conflict, defeats and British decline through fancy footwork, often deceiving friend and foe alike. Yet as the birth of the modern British secret service in 1909, prime ministers were strangers to the secret world - sometimes with disastrous consequences. During the Second World War, Winston Churchill oversaw a remarkable revolution in the exploitation of intelligence, bringing it into the centre of government. Chruchill's wartime regime also formed a school of intelligence for future prime ministers, and its secret legacy has endured. Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and David Cameron all became great enthusiasts for spies and special forces. Although Britain's political leaders have often feigned ignorance about what one prime minister called this 'strange underworld', some of the most daring and controversial intelligence operations can be traced straight back to Number 10.

Richard Aldrich, Rory Cormac, Rory Cormac Richard Aldrich (Author), Tom Clegg (Narrator)

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Learn and Understand Theory of War

Introbooks, Introbooks Team (Author), Andrea Giordani, Introbooks (Narrator)

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Until We Are Free: My Fight for Human Rights in Iran

The first Muslim woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Shirin Ebadi has inspired millions around the globe through her work as a human rights lawyer defending women and children against a brutal regime in Iran. Now Ebadi tells her story of courage and defiance in the face of a government out to destroy her, her family, and her mission: to bring justice to the people and the country she loves. For years the Islamic Republic tried to intimidate Ebadi, but after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rose to power in 2005, the censorship and persecution intensified. The government wiretapped Ebadi's phones, bugged her law firm, sent spies to follow her, harassed her colleagues, detained her daughter, and arrested her sister on trumped-up charges. It shut down her lectures, fired up mobs to attack her home, seized her offices, and nailed a death threat to her front door. Despite finding herself living under circumstances reminiscent of a spy novel, nothing could keep Ebadi from speaking out and standing up for human dignity. But it was not until she received a phone call from her distraught husband-and he made a shocking confession that would all but destroy her family-that she realized what the intelligence apparatus was capable of to silence its critics. The Iranian government would end up taking everything from Shirin Ebadi-her marriage, friends, and colleagues, her home, her legal career, even her Nobel Prize-but the one thing it could never steal was her spirit to fight for justice and a better future. This is the amazing, at times harrowing, simply astonishing story of a woman who would never give up, no matter the risks. Just as her words and deeds have inspired a nation, Until We Are Free will inspire you to find the courage to stand up for your beliefs. Advance praise for Until We Are Free "Shirin Ebadi is quite simply the most vital voice for freedom and human rights in Iran."-Reza Aslan, author of No god but God and Zealot "Shirin Ebadi writes of exile hauntingly and speaks of Iran, her homeland, as the poets do. Ebadi is unafraid of addressing the personal as well as the political and does both fiercely, with introspection and fire."-Fatima Bhutto, author of The Shadow of the Crescent Moon "I would encourage all to read Dr. Shirin Ebadi's memoir and to understand how her struggle for human rights continued after winning the Nobel Peace Prize. It is also fascinating to see how she has been affected positively and negatively by her Nobel Prize. This is a must read for all."-Desmond Tutu "A revealing portrait of the state of political oppression in Iran . . . [Ebadi] is an inspiring figure, and her suspenseful, evocative story is unforgettable."-Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Ebadi's courage and strength of character are evident throughout this engrossing text, which illuminates the power the few have had over the many, particularly the women and children of Iran. The captivating and candid story of a woman who took on the Iranian government and survived, despite every attempt to make her fail."-Kirkus Reviews

Shirin Ebadi (Author), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Narrator)

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We Are Afghan Women: Voices of Hope

Afghanistan has been described as "the worst nation in the world to be a woman." More than fifty percent of girls who are forced into marriage are sixteen or younger. Too many women live in fear, and in many areas education and employment for women are still condemned. The women featured in We Are Afghan Women are fighting to change all that. From rug weavers to domestic violence counselors to business owners, educators, and activists, these courageous women are charting a new path for themselves, their families, their communities, and their nation. Meet Dr. Sakena Yacoobi, who ran underground schools for girls until the Taliban fell, and today has established educational centers across Afghanistan to teach women and girls basic literacy. Or Freshta Hazeq, who as a female business owner has faced death threats, sabotage, and even kidnapping threats against her children. Here too you will find the story of Naheed Farid, the youngest female member of Afghanistan's parliament. With an introduction by former first lady Laura Bush, We Are Afghan Women chronicles the lives of the determined women who are defying the odds to lead Afghanistan to a better future.

George W. Bush Institute (Author), Pam Ward (Narrator)

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The Fight to Vote

In The Second Amendment, Michael Waldman traces the ongoing argument on gun rights from the Bill of Rights to the current day. Now, in The Fight to Vote, Waldman takes a succinct and comprehensive look at an even more crucial struggle: the past and present effort to define and defend government based on "the consent of the governed." From the writing of the Constitution, and at every step along the way, as Americans sought the right, others have fought to stop them. The Fight to Vote, meticulously researched and thoroughly compelling, recounts the entire story, from the Founders' debates to gerrymandering and voter ID laws.

Michael Waldman (Author), Joe Barrett (Narrator)

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America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great

Tackling major American issues---healthcare, education, capitalism, and more – America the Beautiful is an indispensable book. New York Times bestselling author, renowned neurosurgeon and humanitarian Dr. Ben Carson offers a sobering and inspiring manifesto of America’s greatness and the change needed to carry our country into a prosperous future.

Ben Carson M.D., Ben Carson, M.D., Brandon Hirsch, M.D. Carson (Author), Brandon Hirsch (Narrator)

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Open Letter: On Blasphemy, Islamophobia, and the True Enemies of Free Expression

An impassioned defense of the freedom of speech, from Stéphane Charbonnier, a journalist murdered for his convictions On January 7, 2015, two gunmen stormed the offices of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. They took the lives of twelve men and women, but they called for one man by name: "Charb." Known by his pen name, Stéphane Charbonnier was editor in chief of Charlie Hebdo, an outspoken critic of religious fundamentalism, and a renowned political cartoonist in his own right. In the past, he had received death threats and had even earned a place on Al Qaeda's "Most Wanted List." On January 7 it seemed that Charb's enemies had finally succeeded in silencing him. But in a twist of fate befitting Charb's defiant nature, it was soon revealed that he had finished a book just two days before his murder on the very issues at the heart of the attacks: blasphemy, Islamophobia, and the necessary courage of satirists. Here, published for the first time in English, is Charb's final work. A searing criticism of hypocrisy and racism, and a rousing, eloquent defense of free speech, Open Letter shows Charb's words to be as powerful and provocative as his art. This is an essential book about race, religion, the voice of ethnic minorities and majorities in a pluralistic society, and above all, the right to free expression and the surprising challenges being leveled at it in our fraught and dangerous time.

Charb (Author), Dean Olsher (Narrator)

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The Wilmington Ten: Violence, Injustice, and the Rise of Black Politics in the 1970s

In February 1971 racial tension surrounding school desegregation in Wilmington, North Carolina, culminated in four days of violence and skirmishes between white vigilantes and black residents. The turmoil resulted in two deaths, six injuries, more than $500,000 in damage, and the firebombing of a white-owned store, before the National Guard restored uneasy peace. Despite glaring irregularities in the subsequent trial, ten young persons were convicted of arson and conspiracy and then sentenced to a total of 282 years in prison. They became known internationally as the Wilmington Ten. A powerful movement arose within North Carolina and beyond to demand their freedom, and after several witnesses admitted to perjury, a federal appeals court, also citing prosecutorial misconduct, overturned the convictions in 1980. Kenneth Janken narrates the dramatic story of the Ten, connecting their story to a larger arc of Black Power and the transformation of post-civil rights-era political organizing. Grounded in extensive interviews, newly declassified government documents, and archival research, this book thoroughly examines the events of 1971 and the subsequent movement for justice that strongly influenced the wider African American freedom struggle. "Janken provides the reader with a riveting, important account of a sorely understudied episode in the black freedom movement of the early to mid 1970s. The Wilmington Ten is likely to become a transformative work in the area of black freedom studies."-Clarence Lang, author of Black America in the Shadow of the Sixties

Kenneth Robert Janken (Author), Ron Butler (Narrator)

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Invisibility Toolkit

Your sovereignty is under attack. We all see it. It's all around you and your rights are being stripped away at warp speed by those who wish to take what you earned. But sometimes you have to cut your losses. Kickstart a backup plan. Start over. Move abroad. Or just hunker down and survive. Within this book lies top secrets known only to the FBI and a few law enforcement agencies: How to disappear in style and retain assets. How to switch up multiple identities on the fly and be invisible such that no one; not your ex, not your parole officer, nor even the federal government can find you. Ever. The Invisibility Toolkit is the ultimate guide for anyone who values their privacy or needs to disappear. Now. Not 6 months from now. Whether you're running from stalkers or hit men or overzealous cops or divorce courts, you owe it to yourself to learn how to protect your greatest asset: You and your family! Makes a great companion piece to J.J. Luna's 'How to Be Invisible.' Scroll up and hit the buy button today. Because tomorrow may be too late!

Lance Henderson (Author), James C. Lewis (Narrator)

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Political Advocacy Audiobooks in Politics